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Keaton Winn

Giants Select Mauricio Llovera, Designate Dalton Guthrie For Assignment

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The Giants announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Mauricio Llovera, with righty Keaton Winn optioned to Triple-A in a corresponding move. To open a spot on the 40-man roster, outfielder Dalton Guthrie was designated for assignment.

Llovera, 27, pitched for the Giants last year, posting a 4.41 ERA in 16 1/3 innings. He was non-tendered at season’s end and returned on a minor league deal. He’s thrown 22 2/3 innings in the minors this year with a 3.97 ERA, striking out 31.5% of opponents while walking just 6.5%.

Those strong peripherals will get him another shot at getting outs at the big league level. He’s out of options, which means he can’t be sent back down to the minors without being exposed to waivers. But he has just under a year of service time, meaning the Giants could keep him around for future seasons if he manages to stick.

Guthrie, 27, just came over about two weeks ago, acquired from the Phillies in a cash deal after he was designated for assignment. He appeared in 14 big league games with the Phils last year and hit .333/.500/.476 but 23 games this year amounted to a line of just .167/.286/.208. Between the two clubs, he’s hit .279/.362/.443 at Triple-A this year for a wRC+ of 101.

He has the ability to play all three outfield positions and has also played the three infield spots to the left of first base. He still has a full slate of options and less than a year of service time. Given those factors and the offense he’s shown at times, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him garner interest from other clubs. The Giants will now have a week to trade him or pass him through waivers.

Giants Place Alex Cobb On 15-Day IL Due To Oblique Strain

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The Giants have placed right-hander Alex Cobb on the 15-day injured list, as the veteran is suffering from a left oblique strain.  Cobb’s placement is retroactive to June 15.  Right-hander Keaton Winn was called up from Triple-A to take Cobb’s spot on the active roster.

Over 78 2/3 innings this season, Cobb has quietly been one of the most effective pitchers in the game, posting a 3.09 ERA.  A strong 6.2% walk rate and a 58.9% grounder rate have helped Cobb offset a below-average 22.5% strikeout rate and quite a bit of hard contact.  For the second straight year, the Giants’ mediocre defense hasn’t provided much help for a groundball specialist like Cobb, as he has a .341 BABIP over his two seasons in San Francisco.

Cobb’s performance has been a big reason behind the Giants’ 38-32 record, and it remains to be seen how severe his oblique strain is, or how much time he could miss.  A Grade 1 strain would count as relatively good news, as it would likely limit Cobb’s absence to roughly 3-4 weeks, though oblique injuries are notoriously tricky to forecast.

It’s a bad break for a Giants rotation that seemed to be getting healthier when Alex Wood was activated yesterday from his own IL stint (due to a bad back).  However, it was one step forward and two steps back on the health front, as the Giants have now lost both Cobb and versatile reliever John Brebbia to the injured list within the last two days.  Ross Stripling is still a couple of weeks away from returning from the back injury that sent him to the IL last month, so the Giants might need to again turn to bullpen games until Stripling is activated.

Winn has mostly worked as a starter at Triple-A this season and could also factor into the rotation picture.  Sean Manaea could get another look as a starter, but he struggled in the rotation earlier this year and has pitched generally better out of the bullpen, so the Giants might not want to interrupt his progress.  Star prospect Kyle Harrison might also be a possibility, except for the fact that Harrison has a whopping 17.9% walk rate over 47 1/3 innings at Triple-A.

Giants Promote Keaton Winn

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The Giants have recalled right-hander Keaton Winn from Triple-A Sacramento and optioned fellow righty Tristan Beck to Sacramento in his place, per a team announcement. It’ll be the MLB debut for Winn whenever he takes the hill.

San Francisco has Logan Webb, Alex Cobb and Anthony DeSclafani lined up to start their respective games Monday through Wednesday this week, so there’s no immediate opening in the rotation. However, the Giants went with multiple bullpen games this past weekend, so there’s a need for some long relief in the event that one of the current rotation members has a short start or departs with an injury. Winn, who’s operated primarily as a starter in the minors, can give them just that.

The 25-year-old Winn has made a dozen appearances in Triple-A this year, all but three of them coming as a starter. The Giants have limited him on a per-outing basis, as Winn’s longest appearance of the season spanned just 4 1/3 frames and he has only 41 1/3 innings combined through those 12 outings. He’s pitched to a 4.35 ERA in that time, with a strong 27.1% strikeout rate and 50.9% ground-ball rate but an ugly 11.2% walk rate.

Baseball America ranks Winn 14th among Giants prospects, noting that he has a mid- to upper-90s heater, a newly adopted splitter and an average slider. There’s a chance for him to stick as a starter at the big league level, and perhaps even a vacancy at the moment with Sean Manaea in the ’pen and veterans Alex Wood and Ross Stripling on the injured list due to back injuries. Then again, Evan Webeck of the San Jose Mercury News tweets that Wood threw a 50-pitch session over the weekend and could be ready for activation as soon as he’s eligible, on June 16.

Winn’s role in the short-term will likely be dependent on the health of his fellow pitchers and how late into the game they’re able to pitch in the coming days. He hasn’t pitched since June 4, so the Giants will surely want to get him some work sooner than later. Winn could be optioned back in the coming days if he’s called upon for a lengthy bullpen appearance and would be unavailable for a few days anyhow, but his first call to the big leagues puts him squarely on the radar when the team needs bullpen or rotation help moving forward.

Giants Announce Several Roster Moves

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The Giants announced a huge batch of roster moves prior to today’s Rule 5 protection deadline. One of them was the previously reported acquisition of infielder Brett Wisely from the Rays. He was selected to the club’s 40-man roster along with righties Tristan Beck, Jose Cruz and Keaton Winn, infielder Marco Luciano and outfielder Luis Matos. In corresponding moves, seven players were designated for assignment: righties Sam Delaplane and Drew Strotman, lefty Jarlin Garcia, catchers Dom Nunez and Meibrys Viloria, as well as infielders Jason Vosler and Colton Welker.

Beck, a 26-year-old righty, was drafted out of Stanford in the fourth round in 2018 by the Braves and was sent to San Francisco in the Mark Melancon deal at the following year’s trade deadline.  He made only 12 appearances in 2021 due to a herniated disc in his back.  Coupled with the lost 2020 season, he had a large period with minimal minor league work.  Beck spent most of the season starting at the Triple-A level, posting decent peripherals.  However, a .333 batting average on balls in play contributed to an unsightly 5.64 ERA for the Flying Squirrels.  If Beck can get off to a solid start back at Triple-A to begin the 2023 campaign, he stands a good chance of seeing time at the Major League level.

Cruz, 22, spent the season in Low A-ball, whiffing an impressive 42.6% of batters faced out of the San Jose Giants’ bullpen.  Last week, he was named a California League All-Star.  Baseball America named him the best reliever in his league, and also considered his changeup the best in the circuit.  Cruz closed out his season with 16 1/3 scoreless innings, and seems ready to take on High-A with the Eugene Emeralds next year.

Winn, a 24-year-old righty starter, pitched at three levels this year as he ascended from Low-A to Double A.  A former fifth round pick of the Giants in 2018, Winn had Tommy John surgery prior to the 2021 season.  It was a strong comeback season, and Winn reportedly picked up velocity post-TJ.  He was able to miss a lot of bats in A-ball and could find his way to the big leagues at some point in ’23.

Luciano, 21, continues to rate as the Giants’ top prospect despite missing two months this year due to a back injury.  He was rated as the 17th best prospect in baseball by Baseball America heading into the season, and around his injury managed a 121 wRC+ this year in High-A.  Luciano is not necessarily expected to stay at shortstop, but may wind up at third base and should be carried by his impressive power.  Luciano is making up for lost time playing in the Dominican Winter League and should open 2023 at Double-A.

Matos, a 20-year-old center fielder, rates as the Giants third prospect according to MLB.com.  Signed in the same international class as Luciano, Matos is a well-rounded player who excelled in Low-A last year, leading to a rating of 73rd in the game by Baseball America heading into the season.  However, Matos limped to a 73 wRC+ in High-A in 2022, so he picked up some extra at-bats in the Arizona Fall League.

As for the club’s seven DFAs, Delaplane is a 27-year-old righty reliever who was drafted by the Mariners in the 23rd round in 2017.  The Mariners booted him off their 40-man roster in May 2021 after he required Tommy John surgery.  At that point he was dealt to the Giants for cash considerations.  Delaplane dealt with a setback in his recovery this summer, and finds his way off the 40-man once again.  Back in 2019, Delaplane capped off his season by dominating Double-A hitters for 37 innings, posting a 36.6 K-BB%.

Strotman, a 26-year-old righty reliever, was a fourth round pick by the Rays back in 2017.  He went to the Twins in the 2021 trade deadline deal for Nelson Cruz.  Strotman was claimed off waivers by the Rangers in September of this year, and then by the Giants five days ago.  As MLBTR’s Steve Adams wrote at that time, Strotman has struggled with walks and was no lock to survive the winter on the Giants’ 40-man.

The Giants claimed Viloria, a 25-year-old catcher, last Thursday from the Rangers along with Strotman.  As Adams wrote at the time, Viloria hasn’t hit much in parts of four big league seasons but he’s done better at Triple-A and is “touted as a plus defensive backstop, boasting a 34% caught-stealing rate between the big leagues and the minors, and drawing plus reviews for his framing.”

Nunez, 27, was drafted out of high school by the Rockies in the sixth round back in 2013.  Nunez got a decent chunk of playing time in 2021, but managed just a 68 wRC+.  Spending his entire season at Triple-A this year, he didn’t fare any better offensively.  The Giants picked him up via a waiver claim six days ago and are apparently aiming to pass him and Viloria through waivers and keep them around as catching depth.  They’re now back to just Joey Bart and Austin Wynns as catchers on the 40-man, so an addition is likely this winter.

Garcia, 30 in January, joined the Giants via a February 2020 waiver claim from the Marlins.  Since then he’s worked 152 innings out of San Francisco’s bullpen with a fine 2.84 ERA, although his 15.5 K-BB% doesn’t catch the eye.  While Garcia generally exhibits solid control and was a fairly notable part of the club’s 2021 bullpen, he was entrusted with lower-leverage work out of this year’s pen.  With over five years of big league service, Garcia projected for a $2.4MM salary through arbitration.  Since Garcia was apparently unlikely to last through Friday’s non-tender deadline with the Giants, they decided to open up the 40-man spot today to give a spot to a prospect.

Welker, a 25-year-old corner infielder, was drafted in the fourth round by the Rockies back in 2016.  After giving him a brief big league taste last year, the Rockies let Welker go to the Giants in a July waiver claim this year.  Welker, who was suspended for 80 games in 2021 for PED use, was limited to ten games this year due to season-ending surgery to repair a torn labrum.  After carrying him on their 40-man for part of that recovery process, the Giants have sacrificed his spot due to the Rule 5 deadline.

Vosler, a third baseman, was drafted in the 16th round by the Cubs back in 2014.  He was sent to the Padres for Rowan Wick in November 2018.  Two years ago he became a minor league free agent and the Giants inked him to a Major League deal.  Now 29, Vosler was productive at Triple-A in 2019 and ’21 but managed just an 82 wRC+ this year.  He bounced up and down with the Giants this year and did all he could, posting a fine 126 wRC+ in 111 scattered plate appearances that included a home run off Pablo Lopez in June.

After Evan Longoria, the Giants split third base time fairly evenly among Vosler, Wilmer Flores, and David Villar this year at over 200 innings apiece.  Flores and Villar remain with the Giants, who preferred Longoria’s $5MM buyout to his $13MM club option.  According to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale back in October, the Giants are one of three clubs Longoria would consider in ’23, which will apparently be his final season.

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